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president obama has put house speaker john boehner and republicans in a box on fiscal cliff negotiations. and the evidence is mounting. president obama stayed on offense today, visiting the santana family in northern virginia whose taxes will go up more than $4,000 in 2013 if middle class tax cuts aren't extended. >> i'm encouraged to see that there's been some discussion on the part of republicans acknowledging the need for additional revenue. as i've indicated, the only way to get the kind of revenue for a balanced deficit reduction plan is to make sure that we're also modestly increasing rates for people who can afford it. folks like me. just to be clear, i'm not going to sign any package that somehow prevents the top rate from going up for folks at the top 2%. >> the concerted effort from the white house is very clear. here's white house press secretary jay carney. >> what will produce a deal is an acknowledgement by republicans, republican leaders, that rates on the top 2%, the wealthiest americans, have to rise. there is no deal without that acknowledgement, and without a concrete,
president obama has put house speaker john boehner and republicans in a box on fiscal cliff negotiations. and the evidence is mounting. president obama stayed on offense today, visiting the santana family in northern virginia whose taxes will go up more than $4,000 in 2013 if middle class tax cuts aren't extended. >> i'm encouraged to see that there's been some discussion on the part of republicans acknowledging the need for additional revenue. as i've indicated, the only way to get the...
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well, we begin with the new urgency in the fiscal cliff negotiations with now just 21 days, three weeks to reach a deal. today president obama returns to campaign mode taking the fiscal cliff message to detroit. yesterday the president and speaker boehner met privately at the white house, their first face-to-face meeting since they agreed last week to clear everyone else out of the negotiating room. so what happened? well, neither side revealed anything about the meetings, only saying that the lines of communication remain open. but yesterday another influential republican, senator bob corker from the senate banking commission said his party should consider the president's idea of raising tax rates on the wealthy. >> there is a growing group of folks that are looking at this and realizing that we don't have a lot of cards as it relates to the tax issue before year end. we have one house, that's it. the presidency and the senate is in the democrat's hands. a lot of people are putting forth a theory and i think it has merit where you go in and give the president the 2% increase that he's
well, we begin with the new urgency in the fiscal cliff negotiations with now just 21 days, three weeks to reach a deal. today president obama returns to campaign mode taking the fiscal cliff message to detroit. yesterday the president and speaker boehner met privately at the white house, their first face-to-face meeting since they agreed last week to clear everyone else out of the negotiating room. so what happened? well, neither side revealed anything about the meetings, only saying that the...
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. >>> back here at home, fiscal cliff negotiations in washington are still up in the air. most lawmakers have gone home for a long weekend break. this as timothy geithner says the obama administration is willing to go over the fiscal cliff. nbc's tracie potts joins us live from washington with an update. good morning to you. >> reporter: let's start with geithner. he told cnbc that instead of continuing tax breaks for the wealthy, the obama administration is willing to go over this cliff which means they're willing to let your taxes go up and unemployment checks go away massive spending cuts happen if the pentagon instead of continuing the tax breaks for the wealthy. now there's been very little progress here on chiapitol hill which is why so many have gone home. we know that president obama and john boehner spoke by phone. republican sources telling us they had a conversation yesterday. we don't have a readout on what that was about. we don't know that if any meetings have been scheduled. but any small sign of progress is welcome here on capitol hill. now with so many law
. >>> back here at home, fiscal cliff negotiations in washington are still up in the air. most lawmakers have gone home for a long weekend break. this as timothy geithner says the obama administration is willing to go over the fiscal cliff. nbc's tracie potts joins us live from washington with an update. good morning to you. >> reporter: let's start with geithner. he told cnbc that instead of continuing tax breaks for the wealthy, the obama administration is willing to go over...
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what do these numbers mean and what do they portend for the fiscal cliff negotiations? >> it strengthens the president's hand. it was a good number, not great, because of some of the revisions we saw to previous months but the president can tout a record of job creation, so that's encouraging. the unemployment rate went down to 7.7% for some of the wrong reasons. a lot of people left the labor force. that's not something you want to see. you want to see more people coming into the labor force, encouraged that they have a chance at getting a job. nonetheless, 146,000 jobs created. that's good for the president. gives him a chance to go out there and have some momentum going into the fiscal cliff talks. i was just at the speaker's press conference down the hall at the top of last hour and he said look, there's no progress being made and his call with the president was just more of the same and the staff talks behind the scenes yesterday were more of the same. he didn't give us a whole lot of optimism going into this weekend here, alex. >> here's my question. i have many q
what do these numbers mean and what do they portend for the fiscal cliff negotiations? >> it strengthens the president's hand. it was a good number, not great, because of some of the revisions we saw to previous months but the president can tout a record of job creation, so that's encouraging. the unemployment rate went down to 7.7% for some of the wrong reasons. a lot of people left the labor force. that's not something you want to see. you want to see more people coming into the labor...
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or was it just these fiscal cliff negotiations that are going on right now? the inability to make a deal? >> it's the do-nothing congress, their inability to make this deal. the best thing for the economy would be to make a deal and get off the fiscal edge, right. but if they're not going to be able to do that, then bernanke is smart. and again, it's unprecedented for him to do that. it's smart for him to go in and continue to try to stimulate the economy. >> you know, it's one thing for him to say that he is very concerned about the fiscal cliff and what it would do to the economy. but then to back it up with this move. >> yeah. you got to give the guy a lot of credit. it might be his bid for a third term as fed chairman, frankly, because it is creative. it's unprecedented, and by the way, the europeans are now following his lead. >> what is the danger here? >> well, the danger is that we're creating a bit of a bubble with these low interest rates, just like we did, unfortunately, in 2003 and 2004 when greenspan kept interest rates low. and that created the
or was it just these fiscal cliff negotiations that are going on right now? the inability to make a deal? >> it's the do-nothing congress, their inability to make this deal. the best thing for the economy would be to make a deal and get off the fiscal edge, right. but if they're not going to be able to do that, then bernanke is smart. and again, it's unprecedented for him to do that. it's smart for him to go in and continue to try to stimulate the economy. >> you know, it's one...
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cliff. >> behind the scenes negotiations continue today. republicans say they're waiting for the president to outline more spending cuts. the three big issues, tax rates, entitlement reform, medicare and social security, and whether to raise the debt ceiling. we're about to hit it again, and america may need to borrow more. and on those issues at least for now on chilapitol hill, democra seem to think they have the upper hand. that's it for now. >> thanks so much. >>> last night he describes what he says is to use the debt creel as a pawn in the fiscal cliff negotiations. >> they see the handwriting on the wall and they're going to have to extend it, and if they don't the whole country will see they were willing to tank the entire economy and give everybody the tax break to give people at the top a bonus. where they're just dead wrong, ed, is thinking they're going to gain leverage over this debt ceiling because the american people are not going to stand for republicans turning right around and threatening to destroy the american economy by
cliff. >> behind the scenes negotiations continue today. republicans say they're waiting for the president to outline more spending cuts. the three big issues, tax rates, entitlement reform, medicare and social security, and whether to raise the debt ceiling. we're about to hit it again, and america may need to borrow more. and on those issues at least for now on chilapitol hill, democra seem to think they have the upper hand. that's it for now. >> thanks so much. >>> last...
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., let's talk about the fiscal cliff negotiations and the politics of it. how do these numbers effect, if you feel it effects at all the ongoing negotiations? >> first, for the unemployment we would have heard that obama cooked the preelection numbers. and and, second, i'm glad that secretary solis said we don't need more push, particularly benefiting the unemployment and that's got to be part of the fiscal cliff negotiations that. is something that the republicans have to deal with. and i think the republicans and making sure that the debt ceiling is extended for a long time because the one thing that could hurt the economy even more than going off some curb or cliff or slope is if we had a rep tilgs of the debt ceiling battle that we had in 2011. >> so in your view right now, you think that we're past -- potentially past the tax reform question? it's about not the stimulus money but the debt ceiling negotiation and it's important because many communities are not impacted by private sector job growth and need the public sector jobs that the stimulus would
., let's talk about the fiscal cliff negotiations and the politics of it. how do these numbers effect, if you feel it effects at all the ongoing negotiations? >> first, for the unemployment we would have heard that obama cooked the preelection numbers. and and, second, i'm glad that secretary solis said we don't need more push, particularly benefiting the unemployment and that's got to be part of the fiscal cliff negotiations that. is something that the republicans have to deal with. and...
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this is the speed of the fiscal cliff negotiations. blink and you just might miss exactly nothing. while talks between speaker boehner and president obama over the past three days have been shrouded in secrecy, we've learned there have been two offers put on the table. the white house sent boehner a proposal on monday calling for $1.4 trillion in tax revenue, $200 billion less than the original offer. might that seal the deal? >> the president's called for $1.4 trillion worth of revenue. that cannot pass the house or the senate. >> okay then. the speaker's office responded with a deal of its own. yesterday it included precisely the same amount of revenue from the original proposal, $800 billion, which indicates there may have been concessions else where. a democratic source close to the white house tells nbc news the proposal included a permanent extension of the bush tax cuts. that is highly unlikely to fly, given the hard line the president has taken on tax rates and what he told barbara walters in an interview airing this friday on "20/20." >> taxes are going to go up one way or
this is the speed of the fiscal cliff negotiations. blink and you just might miss exactly nothing. while talks between speaker boehner and president obama over the past three days have been shrouded in secrecy, we've learned there have been two offers put on the table. the white house sent boehner a proposal on monday calling for $1.4 trillion in tax revenue, $200 billion less than the original offer. might that seal the deal? >> the president's called for $1.4 trillion worth of revenue....
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. >> reporter: right now it's looking more likely that we could, could, go over that fiscal cliff at the end of the month because right now, negotiations here are at a stand still. president obama talks to the business round table today after telling bloomberg he absolutely won't bunch. the wealthiest americans must pay more. >> we're not going to be able to get a deal without it. >> reporter: he may be in a good position to wait it out. a new poll found more half of americans will blame republicans if we go over the fiscal cliff. >> republicans do not want to touch one hair on the head of one person making over $250,000. that is the rub. >> they've got to come with some specific revenue. they refuse to do that. >> reporter: even other republicans are split on john boehner's plan to avoid tax hikes all together and admit negotiations are going nowhere. >> nothing going on privately that's not going on publicly. >> reporter: republicans say the president needs to meet them halfway. >> he's got to be serious. he's offered more spending, more stimulus than offering any new cuts. >> repo
. >> reporter: right now it's looking more likely that we could, could, go over that fiscal cliff at the end of the month because right now, negotiations here are at a stand still. president obama talks to the business round table today after telling bloomberg he absolutely won't bunch. the wealthiest americans must pay more. >> we're not going to be able to get a deal without it. >> reporter: he may be in a good position to wait it out. a new poll found more half of americans...
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." >>> some conservatives are having emotional debates over the fiscal cliff negotiations. the arguments for higher taxes for the wealthy are getting very tense. ann coulter even tried a reality check on sean hannity. >> are you saying, then, for pr purposes, that they should give in to obama on the tax rate? >> not exactly. well, yeah, i guess i am, but -- >> you're saying capitulate to obama, who -- we don't have a revenue problem, ann. >> we lost the election, sean. >>> meanwhile, the house of representatives passed legislation yesterday removing the word lunatic from all federal laws. it's the latest move by congress to remove language seen as demeaning or out of date, like lunatic. >>> and in australia, prime minister julia gillard talked about the supposed prediction by the mayan calendar that the end of the world is coming in two weeks. well, she did it for a comedy video for a radio show. >> i'm confident in the prediction that the world is about to end. whether the final blow comes from flesh-eating zombies, demonic hill beasts or from the total triumph of cable, i
." >>> some conservatives are having emotional debates over the fiscal cliff negotiations. the arguments for higher taxes for the wealthy are getting very tense. ann coulter even tried a reality check on sean hannity. >> are you saying, then, for pr purposes, that they should give in to obama on the tax rate? >> not exactly. well, yeah, i guess i am, but -- >> you're saying capitulate to obama, who -- we don't have a revenue problem, ann. >> we lost the...
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alan simpson painting a bleak picture behind the scenes of the fiscal cliff negotiations. good morning. this is "way too early." thanks for being up with us this morning. we have a lot to get to on this thursday, december 6. >> including president obama actually making his appeal to business leaders on his tax plan. he's now reaching out following a very tough election campaign. >> and overseas, protests get violent in egypt where the once stable nation appears to be on the verge of crisis. first, let's get to the news live at 5:30 here at 30 rock in new york city. we begin with 25 days to go until the year end fiscal cliff deadline for the first time in days president obama and speaker boehner spoke on the phone yesterday. both men agreeing not to publicly characterize how the conversation went. but the stalemate in negotiations entered bold new territory yesterday with treasury secretary tim geithner suggesting the white house is ready to go off the cliff if republicans refuse to raise taxes on the top 2%. >> if republicans do not agree to that, is the administration pre
alan simpson painting a bleak picture behind the scenes of the fiscal cliff negotiations. good morning. this is "way too early." thanks for being up with us this morning. we have a lot to get to on this thursday, december 6. >> including president obama actually making his appeal to business leaders on his tax plan. he's now reaching out following a very tough election campaign. >> and overseas, protests get violent in egypt where the once stable nation appears to be on...
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cliff negotiations. >> the president seems to be walking us ever so slowly towards the cliff. we have said we are committed to staying here. we are going to stay here right up until christmas eve. throughout the time and period before the new year. >> now, their warning followed a 15 minute phone call between john boehner and the president described as tense by the news team. a characterization, the speaker himself disputed. >> i remain the most optimistic person in this town, but we have serious differences. the president and i have frank conversation about just how far apart we are. >> democratic sources tell us the phone call fell apart because the latest counter proposal included an extension of tax cuts for the wealthy, a permanent extension. another that was disputed. the press secretary reiterated that is a non-starter for the president. >> they refused to accept the fundamental fact that higher income americans, millionaires and the billionaires, the top two% are not going to have tax cuts extended. the president made that clear. >> now with negotiations stuck dare we
cliff negotiations. >> the president seems to be walking us ever so slowly towards the cliff. we have said we are committed to staying here. we are going to stay here right up until christmas eve. throughout the time and period before the new year. >> now, their warning followed a 15 minute phone call between john boehner and the president described as tense by the news team. a characterization, the speaker himself disputed. >> i remain the most optimistic person in this town,...
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and more people trust him to handle fiscal cliff negotiations than speaker boehner to handle the pole. poll. is that why people feel he's going to win at least talking about taxes. >> one, the approval rating is very high. two, republicans go either way. whether republicans want to cut a deal and raise taxes just on the rich or whether they won't go with a deal on january 1st, you'll see taxes to rise on everybody. there's a feeling with democrats they're going to win and get what they want either way. this is trufrustrating republic. when i talk to republicans privately, they say this is hugest from trags. the speaker has put $800 billion on the table and said he would go higher than if the president would come along with spending cuts. >> how high are you hearing? >> it's unclear. i think he's just signaling a willingness which many republicans tell me will also end up being a move on the tax rates. but he can't go there with his caucus, unless he has the spending cuts that he can sell $800 billion in revenue, and we're going to get you $800 billion in spending cuts. democrats don't
and more people trust him to handle fiscal cliff negotiations than speaker boehner to handle the pole. poll. is that why people feel he's going to win at least talking about taxes. >> one, the approval rating is very high. two, republicans go either way. whether republicans want to cut a deal and raise taxes just on the rich or whether they won't go with a deal on january 1st, you'll see taxes to rise on everybody. there's a feeling with democrats they're going to win and get what they...
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cliff negotiations. this is where the rubber meets the road. this is where it's actually happening at the state level. at the local level. this is where all of that money that was released into the political system by citizens united is actually now paying off. >> yeah, and that is what's frightening nationwide because citizen's united opens the door everywhere. and we're seeing them searching for a model on how to do this. that is why even the detroit free press, in an editorial, and, again, this is a paper that had endorsed governor snyder two years ago. it says the right to work champions, the determination to emasculate once and for all the democratic parties most reliable source of financial and organizational support. now, senator, let me say this to you. if they can get away with it in michigan, michigan has 671,000 union members, 17.5% of the work force, fifth highest in the nation. if they can get away with it in michigan, they feel they can just steam roll all over the country. >> i think every
cliff negotiations. this is where the rubber meets the road. this is where it's actually happening at the state level. at the local level. this is where all of that money that was released into the political system by citizens united is actually now paying off. >> yeah, and that is what's frightening nationwide because citizen's united opens the door everywhere. and we're seeing them searching for a model on how to do this. that is why even the detroit free press, in an editorial, and,...
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the only reason we can't saturday fiscal cliff negotiations have fallen apart is that the two sides are still talking. but things are bad, make no mistake. and neither side is optimistic that anything can get done at all. with congress and the president careening to the edge of the cliff, the public is ignoring party lines and demanding an end to this mess. 70% of democrats, 59% of republicans want their own party's leaders to come to an agreement, even if it means not sticking to long-held positions on taxes and entitlements and yet despite those demand, the country is evenly divided on whether they think a consensus can be worked out here in washington, whether they believe obama and boehner can strike a deal. interestingly folks that are paying more attention to the fiscal cliff story are more pessimistic. it's the folks paying less attention that are more optimistic. judging by what we're hearing from negotiators, the public clearly knows something is up in the bad way. >> i remain the most optimistic person in this town but we've got some serious differences. the longer the white h
the only reason we can't saturday fiscal cliff negotiations have fallen apart is that the two sides are still talking. but things are bad, make no mistake. and neither side is optimistic that anything can get done at all. with congress and the president careening to the edge of the cliff, the public is ignoring party lines and demanding an end to this mess. 70% of democrats, 59% of republicans want their own party's leaders to come to an agreement, even if it means not sticking to long-held...
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even in the debt ceiling debate or the fiscal cliff negotiations that neither side will give and they're both being unreasonable. and really not drilling down. the other thing they do is they really go back to newt gingrich and grover norquist. as you've talked about both these things, changing the culture of washington and making compromise impossible. >> here's something really naughty, i think in terms of policy. who can forget back in august not a million years ago when the romney pollster neil newhouse said the following. we're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers. think about that. fact checkers meaning facts. >> right. >> i was on the show with you the other night. we talked about the quotes of the year. 47%. >> that's a good one. >> i thought this should be the top two of three. that showed their view towards reality. it was an arrogance that we can say whatever we want to say. and i think in years past, this is what's changed. campaigns would not be so brazen. if caught in a lie they maybe feel some shame. here's neil newhouse telling reporters that we don'
even in the debt ceiling debate or the fiscal cliff negotiations that neither side will give and they're both being unreasonable. and really not drilling down. the other thing they do is they really go back to newt gingrich and grover norquist. as you've talked about both these things, changing the culture of washington and making compromise impossible. >> here's something really naughty, i think in terms of policy. who can forget back in august not a million years ago when the romney...
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the timing is interesting, obviously, just as we're learning that fiscal cliff negotiations are now a party of two, the president and the speaker. the "new york times" reporting that house speaker john boehner wants to speak only to president obama out of public view. though we've just learned that boehner is holding a news conference at 11:00 this morning eastern time. the fight, though, still very public. vice president joe biden is meeting with a middle class family. and yesterday president obama met with a virginia family. tax hikes for the rich are nonnegotiable. >> just to be clear, i'm not going to sign any package that somehow prevents the top rate from going up for folks at the top 2%. but i do remain optimistic that we can get something done that is for families like this one. >> joining me now is barry, msnbc political contributor and editor for grio. hello, guys. >> perry, i'm wondering if these new unemployment numbers add to the president's leverage? >> i think they do. the big thing is the election. but the jobs numbers suggest that the economy is doing well and it cuts
the timing is interesting, obviously, just as we're learning that fiscal cliff negotiations are now a party of two, the president and the speaker. the "new york times" reporting that house speaker john boehner wants to speak only to president obama out of public view. though we've just learned that boehner is holding a news conference at 11:00 this morning eastern time. the fight, though, still very public. vice president joe biden is meeting with a middle class family. and yesterday...
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cliff and they're notle to negotiate and put something on the table. we've put a good faith effort on the table and you know what, the president is the leatheaet lead. i expect him to be in washington rather than out campaigning. the campaigning is over. it's time to sit at the table with the leaders and that's what it's going to take. i'm very disappointing that's not happening. >> i want to play something that house speaker boehner had to say yesterday. >> the revenues we're putting on the table are going to come from guess who? the rich. now, there are ways to limb the deduction, close loopholes and have the same people pay more of their money to the federal government without raising tax rates. >> congresswoman, the "new york times" reporting today that boehner is enjoying the broadest support he has seen in two years but as you know, a lot of conservatives are very angry over his giving any ground on revenue. is the speaker's leadership still strong in your estimation? >> i think it is. and i know that it's a very tough position for our leader to
cliff and they're notle to negotiate and put something on the table. we've put a good faith effort on the table and you know what, the president is the leatheaet lead. i expect him to be in washington rather than out campaigning. the campaigning is over. it's time to sit at the table with the leaders and that's what it's going to take. i'm very disappointing that's not happening. >> i want to play something that house speaker boehner had to say yesterday. >> the revenues we're...
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meanwhi meanwhile, we have fiscal cliff negotiations where the president wants stimulus mechanisms including an extension of unemployment insurance. they're like a doctor who diagnosed you with a severe ill sxns won't sign the precipitation to give you the medicine. they emphasize the joblessness problem, and they don't want to give you unemployment insurance and tell that to someone laid off sleeping in their car. >> with these jobs numbers, had hurricane sandy not struck how better would this report have been? >> a lot of this was construction job weakness. clearly, that will rebound. one of the unfortunate upsides of natural disaster is that you do, whether the states or federal governments do it or insurance companies, you have a lot of infrastructure spending as people rebuild from the wreckage. you had 20,000 less construction jobs last month. that's likely to be a 20,000-plus or more just to rebuild new jersey alone. you have that. by the way, we haven't talked about the defense cuts that go into effect on january 1, which is truly massive. those have a negative effect on the sector e
meanwhi meanwhile, we have fiscal cliff negotiations where the president wants stimulus mechanisms including an extension of unemployment insurance. they're like a doctor who diagnosed you with a severe ill sxns won't sign the precipitation to give you the medicine. they emphasize the joblessness problem, and they don't want to give you unemployment insurance and tell that to someone laid off sleeping in their car. >> with these jobs numbers, had hurricane sandy not struck how better...
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cliff negotiations. only 36% trust the "r"s in congress. joining me is nbc chief white house correspondent and political director and host of "the daily rundown," anything else you control around here? >> that's enough. >> and "the washington post's" chris cillizza. i think you've been reupped. you're all over the place. you're the greatest. the absolute best there is in this -- >> let's be careful talking about the president outside the beltway in virginia. >> this is why i want you and chris on. what is the president hoping to get done? what's his time frame? does he believe in the cliff or does he think it's a bungee jump? >> no, he truly believes in the cliff. he has been getting -- and he's getting economic warnings from his own team that say, don't believe the congressional budget office, which is kind of rosy about this, who says it would be a tough 2013 if we went over the cliff but things would get better. he is getting updates saying, no, no, no, we will go into recession. >> therefore, let's g
cliff negotiations. only 36% trust the "r"s in congress. joining me is nbc chief white house correspondent and political director and host of "the daily rundown," anything else you control around here? >> that's enough. >> and "the washington post's" chris cillizza. i think you've been reupped. you're all over the place. you're the greatest. the absolute best there is in this -- >> let's be careful talking about the president outside the beltway...
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fiscal cliff negotiations, don't you think they would proceed a lot faster and smoother if both sides were really dealing with reality? but, you see, the republicans, they simply are not. house speaker john boehner and senate minority leader mitch mcconnell have spent years catering to the base that believes, let's say, president obama's a socialist, and the united nations wants to take your disabled child right out of your home. they have votes to back it up, folks. this pitiful display of most senate republicans on the disability treaty showed once again just how far they are, and how far they are removed from reality. one democratic senator told me yesterday his office was actually getting calls from constituents with disabled children wanting to know if the u.n. would remove their children from their homes. it is manufacturing fear in the lives of americans. sometimes it's just a bald-faced lie about the facts. here's the democratic and republican opening bids on the fiscal cliff. but the revenue side of the republican proposal just doesn't match up with reality. you can't get $80
fiscal cliff negotiations, don't you think they would proceed a lot faster and smoother if both sides were really dealing with reality? but, you see, the republicans, they simply are not. house speaker john boehner and senate minority leader mitch mcconnell have spent years catering to the base that believes, let's say, president obama's a socialist, and the united nations wants to take your disabled child right out of your home. they have votes to back it up, folks. this pitiful display of...
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we'll have the latest on the slow, unfolding drama, emphasis on slow, that is the fiscal cliff negotiations. the white house and speaker boehner trade proposals and tension. we will discuss with house democratic whip steny hoyer, ezra klein, sam stein, jane mayer, and jen zocki. plus, csi gop, as the republicans make the long slog to redemption, we discuss lessons learned. and the war on women rages on in the lone star state. we will look at planned parenthood's fight in texas. all that starts in a mere 180 seconds. ♪ [ male announcer ] we began serving handcrafted coffees in seattle, and people seemed to like it. so we wondered -- where else could we take this? ♪ for over 40 years, we've brought our passion for fine coffee and espresso to people everywhere. but one place was impossible, until now. our lattes, espresso and brewed coffee, now in your home from a machine like no other. and now $50 off through january 1st. the verismo® system, by starbucks. [ "the odd couple" theme playing ] humans. even when we cross our "t"s and dot our "i"s, we still run into problems -- mainly other h
we'll have the latest on the slow, unfolding drama, emphasis on slow, that is the fiscal cliff negotiations. the white house and speaker boehner trade proposals and tension. we will discuss with house democratic whip steny hoyer, ezra klein, sam stein, jane mayer, and jen zocki. plus, csi gop, as the republicans make the long slog to redemption, we discuss lessons learned. and the war on women rages on in the lone star state. we will look at planned parenthood's fight in texas. all that starts...
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. >> house speaker john boehner giving a short briefing there about the ongoing fiscal cliff negotiations in washington, d.c. nbc's mike viqueira is standing by on capitol hill. mike, i guess the big head line to come out of this other than the old christmas adage about the ifs, ands, buts, is the fact it's tied mainly to negotiation? >> yeah, if you spend any time around here, andy, two things are going to happen to you as a reporter, you're going to be insulted by john boehner, and you're going to hear him say ifs ands and buts were nuts -- would you put something on the floor that didn't have a majority of republicans to vote for? that really is a threshold question. what he's asking, would you allow a vote on allowing those tax rates for the richest mer e americans to go up, would you allow the house of representatives to vote on it? hedging response from speaker john boehner which is in itself interesting. basically what we have here, back to square one. there's no visible movement. i'm told over the course of yesterday there were no phone calls. whatever meetings or conversations to
. >> house speaker john boehner giving a short briefing there about the ongoing fiscal cliff negotiations in washington, d.c. nbc's mike viqueira is standing by on capitol hill. mike, i guess the big head line to come out of this other than the old christmas adage about the ifs, ands, buts, is the fact it's tied mainly to negotiation? >> yeah, if you spend any time around here, andy, two things are going to happen to you as a reporter, you're going to be insulted by john boehner,...
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and common theme is that president obama has the upper hand in these fiscal cliff negotiations and everything else going on right now, precisably because the perceptions of the party right now n fairness to the republican party, tamron this is what almost always happens, a party loses a presidential election, the numbers go down. ask respondents in a word or phrase their perception of the republican parties and with the republican party, 65% of the comes were negative, includes more than half of republicans. even republicans were criticizing their own party and that, to me, is very interesting. kind of shows you where the political landscape is right now. >> show you where the viewers might be looking at, may be looking at the screen and looking at this bad, weak, neg tivgs uncomp prom migz, need to work together, broken, out of touch when describing the gop. the word cloud for the dems, for the people, working class, still confused, misguided, liberal, left, doing a good job. >> the one that stood out know the republicans is uncompromising, you my the fiscal cliff debate. the republican part
and common theme is that president obama has the upper hand in these fiscal cliff negotiations and everything else going on right now, precisably because the perceptions of the party right now n fairness to the republican party, tamron this is what almost always happens, a party loses a presidential election, the numbers go down. ask respondents in a word or phrase their perception of the republican parties and with the republican party, 65% of the comes were negative, includes more than half...
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we begin this morning with new urgency in the fiscal cliff negotiations with now just 21 days to reach a deal. that's three weeks. today president obama returns to campaign mode, taking his fiscal cliff message to detroit. yesterday the president and speaker boehner met privately at the white house. their first face-to-face meeting since they agreed last week to clear everyone else out of the negotiating room. neither side revealed anything about the meeting that was part of the agreement. only saying that the lines of communication remain open. but yesterday another influential republican, senator bob corker from the senate banking committee, said his party should consider the president's position on raising tax rates on the wealthy. >> there is a growing group of folks that are looking at this and realizing that we don't have a lot of cards as it relates to the tax issue before year end. i mean, we have one house, that's it. the presidency and the senate's in the democrats' hands. a lot of people are putting forth a theory, and i actually think it has merit where you go ahead and giv
we begin this morning with new urgency in the fiscal cliff negotiations with now just 21 days to reach a deal. that's three weeks. today president obama returns to campaign mode, taking his fiscal cliff message to detroit. yesterday the president and speaker boehner met privately at the white house. their first face-to-face meeting since they agreed last week to clear everyone else out of the negotiating room. neither side revealed anything about the meeting that was part of the agreement. only...
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lawmakers are channeling their inner publicists in the fiscal cliff negotiations. that pr aside, are we any closer to common ground? and it if all this sounds familiar, it is. we will talk deal making and deja vu with ben jaman wallace walls, and the ranking member of the house budget committee congressman chris van hollen. plus liz wet bar ren's return to washington and her role as a wall street enforcer and activist kerry kennedy joins us for a discussion about human rights and her father's legacy when "now" starts in a mere 180 seconds. want to try to crack it? yeah, that's the way to do it! now we need a little bit more... [ male announcer ] at humana, we understand the value of quality time and personal attention. which is why we are proud to partner with health care professionals who understand the difference that quality time with our members can make... that's a very nice cake! ohh! [ giggles ] [ male announcer ] humana thanks the physicians, nurses, hospitals, pharmacists and other health professionals who helped us achieve the highest average star rating
lawmakers are channeling their inner publicists in the fiscal cliff negotiations. that pr aside, are we any closer to common ground? and it if all this sounds familiar, it is. we will talk deal making and deja vu with ben jaman wallace walls, and the ranking member of the house budget committee congressman chris van hollen. plus liz wet bar ren's return to washington and her role as a wall street enforcer and activist kerry kennedy joins us for a discussion about human rights and her father's...
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. >>> the case of the silent tea party in the fiscal cliff negotiations. where in the world is michele bachmann? >>> in the rewrite, what republican house members tell themselves about their history with taxation and what they don't know about the republican party's history with taxation. >>> tony-winning award actor, alan cummings, star of "the good life" will be here. keep an eye for alan cummings. he could be popping up at any moment. you know that. [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso. i just finished a bowl of your new light chicken pot pie soup and it's so rich and creamy... is it really 100 calories? let me put you on webcan... ...lean roasted chicken... and a creamy broth mmm i can still see you. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. darrell hasn't been able to visit his mom back east in a long time. [ mom ] things are sometimes a little tight. i wasn't able to go to the wedding. [ emily jo ] since darrell couldn't get home, we decided to bring home to him and then just gave him a little bit of help finding his way. ♪ [ laughs ] [ a
. >>> the case of the silent tea party in the fiscal cliff negotiations. where in the world is michele bachmann? >>> in the rewrite, what republican house members tell themselves about their history with taxation and what they don't know about the republican party's history with taxation. >>> tony-winning award actor, alan cummings, star of "the good life" will be here. keep an eye for alan cummings. he could be popping up at any moment. you know that. [...
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. >> that was speaker of the house john boehner making remarks on the status of the fiscal cliff negotiations. jim, not giving us a ton to chew on there other than talking about a sea of red i think as far as the eye can see and the lack of seriousness. >> sharp ability to cut to the real matter. i think people are scratching their head at why we just had to watch that. >> you never know. there has been silence, right? there has been silence for the last two days, so perhaps, as david corn suggested to me earlier in makeup, this is boehner's bid to get some air time. >> yes. >> i think the story is pretty simple. the republicans are going to keep saying that every single day, and the president is going to keep saying raise taxes every single day until behind the scenes the two of them get a deal. i am still an optimist that they will get a deal. i think it's manifestly in both of their self interests. i don't think the president's hand is as strong as he thinks it is, and i think boehner has much more incentive than he leads on to figure out a way to get a deal to avert this. neither of these
. >> that was speaker of the house john boehner making remarks on the status of the fiscal cliff negotiations. jim, not giving us a ton to chew on there other than talking about a sea of red i think as far as the eye can see and the lack of seriousness. >> sharp ability to cut to the real matter. i think people are scratching their head at why we just had to watch that. >> you never know. there has been silence, right? there has been silence for the last two days, so perhaps,...
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to understand what's going on during the hopeless fiscal cliff negotiations rewind to 2011 when boehner and president obama came within inches of a grand bargain, a deal that would have forced both democrats and republicans to eat their vegetables. in its comprehensive analysis of what happens during the secret negotiations, matt bai wrote -- the deal unraveled in large part because speaker boehner could not get his unruly caucus to go along with raising new revenue. fast forward to this year and republicans now think that deal, the one they walked away from, sounds pretty good. they're using it as a basis for their current proposal. only problem. boehner had his chance. president obama now thinks he has the upper hand. according to the "washington post's" ezra klein, quote -- >> joining us now representative chris van hollen of maryland, ranking member of the house budget committee. great to have you on the program. >> great to be with you, alex. >> let's talk a little bit about 2011 versus 2012, which is to say, the republican party is a very different negotiating position than they w
to understand what's going on during the hopeless fiscal cliff negotiations rewind to 2011 when boehner and president obama came within inches of a grand bargain, a deal that would have forced both democrats and republicans to eat their vegetables. in its comprehensive analysis of what happens during the secret negotiations, matt bai wrote -- the deal unraveled in large part because speaker boehner could not get his unruly caucus to go along with raising new revenue. fast forward to this year...
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. >> fiscal cliff negotiations. >> one-on-one right now. >> are now a party of two. >> the two most important players. >> the president and the speaker. >> president obama and house speaker john boehner. >> a two-man operation. >> there is no progress. >> we are seeing progress. >> there is a jobs report today. >> unemployment down to 7.7%. better than expected. thank you very much. >> we dropped a whole point in a year. >> there is no progress. >> members of congress are always upset. >> they are taking us to the cliff. >> the momentum is with the president. >> republicans are totally over the barrel. >> did you say over? >> they should give in to obama on the tax rate? >> nothing is over until we decide it is! >> we didn't elect them to raise rate. >> not me! >> we don't have a revenue problem. >> i'm not going to take this. >> when are you going to fight? >> let's do it! >> how is that winning? that isn't winning. >> i don't think republicans will win. >> south carolina senator jim demint -- >> jim demint says he is resigning. >> his surprise announcement to step down. >> i think i'm in a
. >> fiscal cliff negotiations. >> one-on-one right now. >> are now a party of two. >> the two most important players. >> the president and the speaker. >> president obama and house speaker john boehner. >> a two-man operation. >> there is no progress. >> we are seeing progress. >> there is a jobs report today. >> unemployment down to 7.7%. better than expected. thank you very much. >> we dropped a whole point in a year....
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cliff negotiations in washington is our colleague and friend ruth marcus from "the washington post." columnist for "the washington post." ruth, this whole issue in the midwest, this used to be most likely in the southern states, but this really is moving, and we're seeing a real decline in union household membership about half what it was 40 years ago. it used to be 24%. now it's 11.8%. >> unions are reeling, and the more states that enact measures like this, the more unions will be reeling. their penetration, the private sector is something like 7% of the private sector work force is unionized, and i have to say -- i don't use words like this very often, i thought some of the governor's comments were kind of orwelian to suggest this was a pro-worker move. it's clearly a move that may help businesses, but what a kick in the teeth to autoworkers unions, who as you correctly point d out, gave a lot back to help the auto industry get back on its feet, the notion that we had to do this now with this lame-duck session because they raised it in some other proposition is bizarre to me, and
cliff negotiations in washington is our colleague and friend ruth marcus from "the washington post." columnist for "the washington post." ruth, this whole issue in the midwest, this used to be most likely in the southern states, but this really is moving, and we're seeing a real decline in union household membership about half what it was 40 years ago. it used to be 24%. now it's 11.8%. >> unions are reeling, and the more states that enact measures like this, the more...
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cliff negotiations. congressman peter welch is a democrat from vermont and deputy chief whip and he joins us now. good afternoon, sir. >> good afternoon. >> the president has said that he wants to raise revenues, and so very specifically he wants tax rates on the rich to go up. speaker boehner says he wants to cut spending. but then he won't specify the cuts he'd like. why is that? >> he's got a tough negotiating situation. he's got to put on a show for his base and his base ran for spending cuts and for tax cuts. they know revenues are going to go up. speaker ba eer boehner knows th president is going to get his way so he's putting on a show. >> in the new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll when asked if these leaders should compromise to get a deal, 70% of democrats said yes while just 59% of republicans agreed. and now i'd like you to listen to minority leader pelosi today discussing changes to eligibility for medicare, something republicans say should be on the table. take a listen. >> don't even th
cliff negotiations. congressman peter welch is a democrat from vermont and deputy chief whip and he joins us now. good afternoon, sir. >> good afternoon. >> the president has said that he wants to raise revenues, and so very specifically he wants tax rates on the rich to go up. speaker boehner says he wants to cut spending. but then he won't specify the cuts he'd like. why is that? >> he's got a tough negotiating situation. he's got to put on a show for his base and his base...
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our next guest explains how the presidential campaign has undermined the fiscal cliff negotiations. we're back in a moment. of washington about the future of medicare and social security. anncr: but you deserve straight talk about the options on the... table and what they mean for you and your family. ancr: aarp is cutting through all the political spin. because for our 37 million members, only one word counts. get the facts at earnedasay.org. let's keep medicare... and social security strong for generations to come. military families face, we understand. at usaa, we know military life is different. we've been there. that's why every bit of financial advice we offer is geared specifically to current and former military members and their families. [ laughs ] dad! dad! [ applause ] ♪ [ male announcer ] life brings obstacles. usaa brings advice. call or visit us online. we're ready to help. >>> welcome back to "morning joe" on this wednesday morning. still a little chilly. no big storms in sight at least this week. i'll explain in a second. first things first. windchills, a little ch
our next guest explains how the presidential campaign has undermined the fiscal cliff negotiations. we're back in a moment. of washington about the future of medicare and social security. anncr: but you deserve straight talk about the options on the... table and what they mean for you and your family. ancr: aarp is cutting through all the political spin. because for our 37 million members, only one word counts. get the facts at earnedasay.org. let's keep medicare... and social security strong...
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we're now in the middle of negotiations over the fiscal cliff. one element of this is are republicans going to be in this position, once again, to take the debt ceiling and the good faith and credit the u.s. hostage? president obama says we can't be in that position, again. and you are described, you, the press says, well, he said, listen. this is extraordinary. you ought to be talking about the damage caused by -- >> there's no doubt on this debt ceiling issue. look, this is part of the negotiations, this is in the middle of the, sort of the three tiered. they have a better chance of agreeing on taxes and entitlements than the debt ceiling. boehner who himself may agree, if we can't have this fight again because the business community will absolutely go crazy about it. he's got to bring back a political tool or some piece of victory. >> i would say, chuck, actually, the reporting now is better than it was a year ago. and some of what's happened is i think reporters have come to realize and many even republicans around that it's a party that went
we're now in the middle of negotiations over the fiscal cliff. one element of this is are republicans going to be in this position, once again, to take the debt ceiling and the good faith and credit the u.s. hostage? president obama says we can't be in that position, again. and you are described, you, the press says, well, he said, listen. this is extraordinary. you ought to be talking about the damage caused by -- >> there's no doubt on this debt ceiling issue. look, this is part of the...
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how is john boehner performing as fiscal cliff negotiator. there's a petition drive demanding the president and lawmakers resolve the crisis or else. you are watching weekends with alex witt. wasn't my daughter's black bean soup spectacular? [ man thinking ] oh, this gas. those antacids aren't working. oh no, not that, not here! [ male announcer ] antacids don't relieve gas. gas-x is designed to relieve gas. gas-x. the gas xperts. well, having a ton of locations doesn't hurt. and a santa to boot! [ chuckles ] right, baby. oh, sir. that is a customer. oh...sorry about that. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. fedex office. plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day men's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for men's health concerns as we age. it has 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day men's 50+. when you give a child a toy, it has to work. ♪ make just one someone happy and when it's a toys for tots child, well, what could be more important? so this year, every hasbro toy donated to toys for tots will be p
how is john boehner performing as fiscal cliff negotiator. there's a petition drive demanding the president and lawmakers resolve the crisis or else. you are watching weekends with alex witt. wasn't my daughter's black bean soup spectacular? [ man thinking ] oh, this gas. those antacids aren't working. oh no, not that, not here! [ male announcer ] antacids don't relieve gas. gas-x is designed to relieve gas. gas-x. the gas xperts. well, having a ton of locations doesn't hurt. and a santa to...
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is there hope in the fiscal cliff negotiations? this is msnbc, the police for a politics. people love our potpourri parties. it's a smell of a good time. this is the juniper! oh that is magical. [ male announcer ] when you combine creamy velveeta with zesty rotel tomatoes and green chiles, you'll get a bowl of queso that makes even this get-together better. it's so great to see you. you, too! oh, cloudy glasses. you didn't have to come over! actually, honey, i think i did... oh? you did? whoa, ladies, easy. hi. cascade kitchen counselor. we can help avoid this with cascade complete pacs. see, over time, cascade complete pacs fight film buildup two times better than finish quantum. to help leave glasses sparkling shiny! too bad it doesn't work on windows. okay, i'm outta here. cascade. the clear choice. [ man thinking ] oh, this gas. those antacids aren't working. oh no, not that, not here! [ male announcer ] antacids don't relieve gas. gas-x is designed to relieve gas. gas-x. the gas xperts. >>> i was willing to hold fast, but that all changed on thursday. because on thurs
is there hope in the fiscal cliff negotiations? this is msnbc, the police for a politics. people love our potpourri parties. it's a smell of a good time. this is the juniper! oh that is magical. [ male announcer ] when you combine creamy velveeta with zesty rotel tomatoes and green chiles, you'll get a bowl of queso that makes even this get-together better. it's so great to see you. you, too! oh, cloudy glasses. you didn't have to come over! actually, honey, i think i did... oh? you did? whoa,...
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cliff negotiations. she has come in for us on a saturday afternoon. we do appreciate your time. >> good to be here. >> thanks for being here. there's a possibility of some major changes to entitlement spending by the end of these fiscal cliff negotiations. it looks like democratic leaders are right now warming to the idea of raising medicare premiums for wealthier people. you in the past have been somewhat outspoken in terms of your opposition to the idea of altering entitlements in a dramatic way. are you changing your tune? >> no. however, i will say this. we have taken seriously the fact that we have an obligation to our seniors, that medicare has worked for millions, almost 450 million americans, seniors mostly but disabled. and we want to start the discussion about medicare with the promise we are going to keep medicare and find a way to contain the rate of growth in costs under medicare and all health care been helpful. >> sure. >> but we'll meet that obligation to our seniors. that's where i think
cliff negotiations. she has come in for us on a saturday afternoon. we do appreciate your time. >> good to be here. >> thanks for being here. there's a possibility of some major changes to entitlement spending by the end of these fiscal cliff negotiations. it looks like democratic leaders are right now warming to the idea of raising medicare premiums for wealthier people. you in the past have been somewhat outspoken in terms of your opposition to the idea of altering entitlements in...
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cliff budget negotiations that as of this hour are still focused entirely on income tax rates. there is much more that congress has to solve than income tax rates including the amt, medicare spending, medicaid, and possibly social security. joining me to talk about the things that congress is not yet talking about but will soon be talking about, joeyç reed and chris hayes. chris, the amt has a deadline to it that is sharper than anything else in here, because these 2012 tax returns going to have to be calculated with either this new version of the amt or the fixed version, and that is the difference between it affects -- it adds tens of millions of people getting bitten by this thing. i know that the insiders are more worried about that actually getting fixed than the cliff at this point. >> yeah. when i started covering capitol hill in washington, there were two things that people talked about, which was the amt patch and the dock fix. everyone is like where are we on the amt fix. they adjust the payments and do this thing with the amt. we were asking early on, is there a wa
cliff budget negotiations that as of this hour are still focused entirely on income tax rates. there is much more that congress has to solve than income tax rates including the amt, medicare spending, medicaid, and possibly social security. joining me to talk about the things that congress is not yet talking about but will soon be talking about, joeyç reed and chris hayes. chris, the amt has a deadline to it that is sharper than anything else in here, because these 2012 tax returns going to...
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here what happens he had to say on the "today" show about who knows what about the fiscal cliff and the budget negotiations. >> these guys if you gave half of them -- gave 90% of them a profit and loss statement in one hand and a balance sheet in the other they wouldn't know how to read it. >> so, alan simpson not making himself the most popular among former colleagues. what is your sense? how well do the members who are going to be voting on the stuff understand, both what's in this deal or could be in the deal and what the consequences are? >> typically how this works out those with the most expertise are closest to the process of the deal making, what might be on the table, off the table. and that seems to benefit all sides. people with the most knowledge of this. when it does come to the vote, which is the ultimate answer here, there can be a lot of that within the party arm twisting. it's fair to say that not every member of the senate, and certainly not every member of the house, has expertise on issues of this sort of magnitude. but there are all kind of held accountable for it,
here what happens he had to say on the "today" show about who knows what about the fiscal cliff and the budget negotiations. >> these guys if you gave half of them -- gave 90% of them a profit and loss statement in one hand and a balance sheet in the other they wouldn't know how to read it. >> so, alan simpson not making himself the most popular among former colleagues. what is your sense? how well do the members who are going to be voting on the stuff understand, both...